Roller-skate



(No Model.) E.

ROLLER SKATE.

No. 337,878. Patented Mar. 16, 1886.

UNITE STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SAMUEL E. SHUTE, OF RICHMOND, INDIANA, ASSIGNOR TO CHARLES A. SHAW, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

ROLLER-SKATE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 337,878. dated March 16, 1886.

Application filed January 13, 1885. Serial No. 152,772.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, SAMUEL E. SHUTE, of Richmond, in the county of \Vayne, State of Indiana, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Roller-Skates, of which the following is a description sufficiently full, clear, and exact to enable any person skilled in the art or science to which said invention appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation representing my improvement as applied to the skate, the forward running-gear and toe of the body or foot piece only being shown; Fig. 2, a side elevation of the brackets and their plate detached; Fig. 3, an. end elevation of the rear bracket; Fig. 4, a side elevation of the wedge detached; Fig. 5, a rear end elevation of the same, and Fig. 6 a side elevation of the screw detached.

Like letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the different figures of the drawings.

My invention is designed as an improvement on the roller-skate shown and described in Letters Patent of the United States, No. 294,426, dated March 4, 1884; and it consists in a novel construction and arrangement of the parts, as hereinafter more fully set forth and claimed, by which, in some respects, a

more desirable article of this character is produced than is now in ordinary use.

The nature and operation of the improvement will be readily understood by all conversant with such matters from the following explanation In the drawings, A represents the foot-piece or body of the skate; B, the bracket-plate; O D, the brackets; E, the bolster; H, the cushion or spring; J, the wedge; K, the screw; M, the axle, and N the trucks or rollers. The brackets O D project downwardly from and are preferably cast integral with the plate B,which is attached to the foot-piece A by means of screws or in any other suitable manner. These brackets are each provided with suitable holes for the reception of pin and screws, as hereinafter specified, and the bracket D, in addition thereto, has a cutaway or recessed portion, D, in its rear face near itslower end, so that when (No model.)

the pin L is passed into its hole L its head will be flush, or nearly so, with the upper part of the rear face of said bracket, as shown in Fig. 1. The bolster is journaled in the brackets by and fitted to rock on the bolster-pin L, which is held in position by a spring-plate, P, attached to the upper part of the bracket D by the pin w, on which it swings laterally, said plate being provided with a depression, at, in its free end, into which the head of the pin L falls when the plate is in use. The wedge J is fitted to slide longitudinally between the brackets G D,being kept in position by flanges a at either side and end of the wedge, which straddle said brackets. A flange, f, projects upwardly from the wedge, said flange being provided with a screW-threadedholc, z, for receiving the screw K. The wedge is also provided on its upper side with two inclines, d Z, the incline (I being adapted to engage the under side of the plate B at h, and the incline Z a corresponding projection, g, on the under side of the plate B. The screw K is provided with two annular flanges or bosses, v t, and when in position for use its body i rests in the lower part of the notch bin the bracket D, be-

ing kept in said notch by a superposed spring, 1", which abuts against the foot'piece A and acts expansively to force the screw downwardly, the bosses o t preventing the withdrawal of the screw longitudinally. the bolster E is provided with a fiat-bottomed, wide but shallow groove, (not shown,) for receiving and holding the rubber cushion or spring H,said spring extending upwardly into a corresponding groove, S, in the lower side of the wedge, thus being partially incased.

In the use of my improvement any required degree oftension may be placed upon thespring by means of the screw K, which is turned to the left to increase the tension, and to the right to decrease it, as will be readily understood without a more explicit description.

In the skate shown and described in said Letters Patent a wedge and screw for controlling the tension of the spring are represented, and I do not,therefore,claiui the same broadly, or when in and of themselves considered; but in the wedge shown in said patent the incline is on its lower side, where it engages the box The upper side of.

containing the cushion or spring, the incline being uniform its entire length, and in the use of such a wedge I have found that it does not act as rapidly as is sometimes desirable, having to be forced forward too far to obtain the requisite downward movement, thereby necessitating the employment of a very short wedge. The screw in said patented skate also abuts against the outer end of the wedge, and there is no means provided for withdrawing the wedge after it is forced forward by the screw. To obviate these objections I make use of the inclines on the wedge and inclined projection g on he plate B, the incline Z being preferably much sharper or more acute than the incline d,to equalize theinclination of the brackets O D to the plate A, thereby enabling the wedge to be forced down onto the spring sufficiently to exert the requisite tension without being unduly advanced longitudinally.

I do not confine myself to inclining the portion (1 of the wedges J, as it may be parallel with theplate B, if desired, or the forward end only of the part (2 may rest against the plate B- Having thus explained my invention, what I claim is 1. In a roller-skate,the combination of the following instrumentalities, to wit: a footpiece, brackets projecting downwardly from said foot-piece, a rocking bolster journale'd in said brackets, a pair of trucks aXled or journaled in said bolster, a cushion or spring mounted on said bolster, a wedge provided with an acute incline near its rear end, and a screw adapted to engage said wedge and govern the tension of said spring, said acutely-inclined portion of the wedge and also another portion of the same being adapted to engage fixed portions of the skate as said wedge is forced forward and downward, substantially as 7 described.

2. In a roller-skate, the foot-piece A and the bracket D, provided with the notch 12, in combination with a screw adapted to rest in said notch, means for retaining the latter in the notch with a yielding pressure, and a wedge and spring.

3. In a roller-skate, the foot-pieceA and the bracket D, provided with the notch b','in combination with a screw adapted to rest in said notch, the spring 7, interposed between said foot-piece and screw,for retaining thelatter in the notch with a yielding pressure, and a wedge and spring.

4. In a roller-skate, the wedge J, provided with the threaded holef andinclinel, in combination with the screw K, cushion H, bolster E, brackets O D, spring 1, and plate B, provided with the projection g, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

5. In a'roller-skate, the screw K, provided with the bosses at, the bracket D, provided with the notch b, the wedge J, provided with the threaded hole z and incline l, and the spring 1', in combination with the cushion H, bracket 0. bolster E, axle M, and rollers N, substantially as described.

6. In a roller-skate, the combination, with ,7

the brackets O and D, the bolster E, carrying axle and trucks, suitable cushioning devices above said bolster, and the pin L, passing obliquely upward through said brackets and bolster, of the spring-plate P, secured to a shoulder on said bracket D' above said pin L and flush with the head thereof, and provided with the depression m in itsfree'end,into which the head of the pin L is adapted to fall.

7. In a rollenskate, the combination, with p the brackets O and D, the bolster E, carrying axle and trucks, suitable cushioning devices above said bolster, and the pin L, passing obliquely upward through said brackets and bolster, of the plate P, pivotally attached to a shoulder on said bracket D, above the pin L, flush with the head thereof, and provided with the depression m in its free end, into which the head of the pin L is adapted to fall.

SAMUEL E. SHUTE Witnesses:

W. H. HALL, ALVIN E. CROCKER. 

